Science from the Sea, Public Awareness from Above

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Georgia Hirsty

In a verdant airfield just north of Seattle, our team stood huddled in the damp dawn obscured on every side by a thick fog. As the sun climbed into the morning sky, we waited, fingers crossed, for the fog to lift before the winds picked up. Just as the warmth of the sun began to burn off the mist, a helicopter appeared and circled above. It was the local news helicopter. They had come to see this thing called an airship

There is no doubt that it is a peculiar craft. Somewhere between a blimp and a hot air balloon, Greenpeace’s thermal airship, named A.E. Bates, is one of 4 vessels of it’s kind in the United States and one of only 60 in the world. Continue reading →

Greenpeace calls for Bering Sea protection with thermal airship

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Travis Nichols

Greenpeace’s thermal airship, A.E. Bates, flies over Seattle, a fishing industry hub, to call attention for Bering Sea protection.

Greenpeace will fly its thermal airship over the Seattle area all week with a 75 foot whale-themed banner urging Washington residents to help protect the “Grand Canyons of the Sea.”

Watch news coverage of the airship’s flight, and hear from Greenpeace’s Bering Sea campaigner on just why this area is so important.

Greenpeace and Mission Blue will host an “Evening of Hope” at the Seattle Aquarium to celebrate Alaska’s Bering Sea, a unique ecosystem currently threatened by a billion dollar fishing industry. Continue reading →

Photos: Leaving Seattle to Save the Arctic

Posted on June 14, 2012 by chris eaton

And we’re off! On Tuesday morning the Esperanza left Seattle to head for Alaska, the Bering Sea and the Arctic. As we sailed up the Puget Sound and out onto the Pacific, the beauty of the surrounding waters, islands and mountains was only tarnished by the knowledge that Shell’s Arctic bound oil rigs will leave port in Seattle and pass the pass the same way.

But we are ready. Continue reading →

Sleepless in Seattle Over Shell’s Arctic Destruction

Posted on June 11, 2012 by chris eaton

This Saturday some amazing grassroots activists staged an all night vigil on Seattle’s waterfront. Why? Organizers Emily Johnston and Carlo Voli explained that Shell’s plans for exploratory drilling in the Alaskan Arctic this summer are enough to keep them up at night. They just had to do something about it. Continue reading →

Greenpeace, the Yes Men and the inside story of #ShellFail

Posted on June 8, 2012 by James Turner

Original #ShellFail video here.

by James Turner

Shell has spent billions trying to persuade the world that Arctic drilling is not as obscene as it really is. The company opens its giant war chest every time it needs to put a message in front of the public, or wants to gain access to a certain politician. Shell is trying to hide the fact that it is exploiting global warming to drill for more of the oil that is causing global warming in the first place. You can see why that’s a message it would like to keep quiet.

That’s why we decided to get creative. For the past few months we’ve been working with the Yes Lab to design an entirely positive, enthusiastic campaign for Arctic drilling. We’re using Shell’s actual advertising slogan – Let’s Go – to tell it like it really is. If you’re ignoring scientists and trampling over the natural world to make billions in profit, why hide it? Ignoring the greatest threat that humanity has ever faced to boost your quarterly results? Let’s Go! Continue reading →

More on epic #shellfail last night at party in Seattle’s Space Needle

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Guy Usher

Update 6/8/2012 9:27 am PST: When you’re dealing with the Far North, you have to be prepared for anything. Clearly, Shell isn’t quite Arctic Ready.

Greenpeace, the Yes Lab, and members of the Occupy movement are claiming responsibility for the set of actions described below that have focused intense attention on Shell’s Arctic drilling program.

The centerpiece of the action was the lavish party in the Space Needle, in which a model oil rig “accidentally” spewed liquid in the face of the rig designer’s “widow”—actually 84-year-old Occupy activist Dorli Rainey, well known for having been brutally pepper-sprayed in the face by Seattle Police during Occupy protests last fall.

A one-minute video of that “malfunction,” shot by Occupy “infiltrator” Logan Price, quickly reached the top spot on Reddit and the #2 spot on Youtube, with a half-million views in less than 24 hours, completely wrong-footing Shell’s PR machine.

It’s a #shellFAIL rehearsal to #SaveTheArctic.

Want to know more? Read James Turner’s recap of the entire event here.

Original Post:

When you’ve been fighting against Shell’s crazy plan to drill in the Arctic for a while you get used to the company making a mess of PR. Like the announcement that they’d banned styrofoam cups from their oil rigs (that’ll fix the problem!) or when they proudly told us about a small dog called Tara who could sniff out an oil spill under thick ice.

But this time they’ve really outdone themselves. Thanks to folks at Occupy Seattle and Treehugger, we’re finding out about a corporate launch event that the company held last night at the Seattle ‘Space Needle’ to announce the departure of their two rigs from the city. The two creaky old rigs in question – the Kulluk and the Noble Discoverer – are soon to be on their way to Alaska if all goes as planned, despite the fact that President Obama’s Deepwater Horizon Commission has stated that there is still no proven method for cleaning oil spilled in ice and that the Coast Guard lacks an adequate response capability in the region. Continue reading →

The Esperanza Arrives in Seattle

Posted on June 5, 2012 by chris eaton

When I moved to Seattle, WA last September I was struck by one lasting impression, and it wasn’t the rain.

Seattle is inescapably a port city. From the container ships coming and going from Harbor Island to the massive fishing fleets docked in Ballard you can never lose sight of the fact that this place is a gateway to the Pacific.

It wasn’t till March that the full meaning of this really occurred to me when I saw one of the harbor’s guests, the Kulluk. The Kulluk is a towering, 30 year old, drill rig owned by Shell oil. Any day now the Kulluk, along with its sister vessel, the Noble Explorer, will sail to the Arctic to take advantage of the melting sea ice caused by global warming to begin exploratory oil drilling. Continue reading →